Using data to inform cohort selection
September is all about beginnings for the young people we work with as they start new school years, new schools and - for many of them - the beginning of their time on the AllChild programme. In this blog, learn about how we identify children to join the programme, and the process of beginning a new two year cohort.
AllChild begins working with schools in the Summer term to start preparing for the new two year programme. As a data-driven organisation, it’s no surprise that the identification of a new cohort depends on information gathered from schools. Before the Summer holidays, AllChild’s Impact Team collects academic data alongside demographic data and attendance rates. They collect this for every child in the year groups AllChild is likely to work with (as a two year programme this usually includes Years 1-5 in primary and 7-10 in secondary).
AllChild also collects wellbeing judgments for each child. These judgments come in the form of questionnaires filled out typically by class teachers in primary schools, and by the young people themselves in secondary settings.
Data on any new Year 7s, who would have recently left primary school, is collected a little later in the Autumn term. The team then works over the summer to analyse this data. Once this analysis is complete, the children are ranked in order of who could benefit most from the support AllChild offers. This ranking forms the basis of a meeting which takes place early in the Autumn term between each school and AllChild. In this cohort identification meeting, the school offers their expertise on the children, and their suggestions and input on where AllChild can help the most, is vital. From this conversation, a final list of children and young people is agreed on.
Then it’s time for the Link Worker in school to get to work!
The Link Worker will spend the next few weeks explaining the programme to, and gaining consent from, families, and getting to know the young people they will be working with over the next two years. The Autumn Term is devoted to building a trusted relationship between the Link Worker and these young people, and the Link Worker will use what they learn to start designing a personalised programme of support based on each young person’s strengths and needs.
This is not the end of the data collection and analysis however. Mia from AllChild’s Impact Team explains:
“Robust data collection and analysis is absolutely pivotal to the work we do at AllChild. The nature of running a targeted intervention means collecting data prior to the programme start is crucial - we can't run the programme if we can't identify the children for it!
Once the programme's running, continuous monitoring means that we can report effectively to our funders and board of trustees, as well as shout out achievements in our marketing where there's cause for celebration. It also means we can hold ourselves to account, highlighting areas for improvement to allow for continuous improvement of our impact programme.”
